Question on raises in NL Hold'em

[Phil Gordon AA]

I have been playing No Limit Texas Hold'em for over three years and while I'm not claiming to be a really good player, I am no noob when it comes to Hold'em.
However, I may be a noob concerning this question lol.
I always thought that a raise has in NL Texas Hold'em had to be at least twice the size of the previous bet. For exmaple, if I bet $1, in order to raise you'd have to raise to $2, not $1.50 or somethig like that. Pretty simple stuff I thought. These are the rules I see on any poker tournament on TV (WSOP, WPT, etc). These are also the rules used at most casinos and in my home game.
With all that being said I have a link of a High Stakes Poker clip from Season 3 that refutes this theory on raises.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50Wk5KcU-a0

In this hand on the turn,
Benyamine bets 18,000.
Esfendari raises to 42,000
Then Benyamine raises to 72,000 ???? How is that possible???
Then in part 2 of this episode, Antonio raises to 112,000. ???

From what I can see, these raises are not doulbe the previous bet/raise. Then how are these raises possible? Is it a house rule or a cash game rule playes agree on before the game?
I have also seen this online on FTP and in one hand on poker after dark.

Please answer me, am I really a noob or am I missing something here?

[Jernej Zorec]

because esfandiari raised for 24k
and u have to raise same amount as previous raise or bet was

[Phil Gordon AA]

Oh my geed, you mean I have been wrong this whole time playing Hold'em for 3 years? OMG, I feel like such an idiot. What I always thought for some odd reason, was that a 2nd raise always had to be double the 1st raise's "to" amount.
(Obviously the first raise has to be double, If player 1 bets a $1, player 2 has to raise to $2). But I always thought that the 2nd raise had to be double the "to $2" amount. So I thought player 1 would have to raise "to 4" because it's double the "to 2" amount. What you're saying is that player 1's raise only has to be "to 3"? (The $1 to call and twice the size of the "raise - $1 which would be $2. Add the $2 to the $1 and player one only has to raise to $3, not $4?
WOW, if this is correct, I have been playing Texas Hold'em all this time doubling the "to amount". I always thought you had to double the call and the raise.
So if I get this right, Benyamine bet 18,000
Antonio raised double and some more to 42,000
Then I always thought Benyamine would have to raise to 84,000. But from what I'm getting at, he only has to call the 24,000 raise and double the 24,000? So 24,000 x 3. So Benyamine's minimum raise is "to 72,000, not "to 84,000"
Please help me clarify this, I am completely confused[/b]

[supafrey]

Oh my geed, you mean I have been wrong this whole time playing Hold'em for 3 years? OMG, I feel like such an idiot. What I always thought for some odd reason, was that a 2nd raise always had to be double the 1st raise's "to" amount.
(Obviously the first raise has to be double, If player 1 bets a $1, player 2 has to raise to $2). But I always thought that the 2nd raise had to be double the "to $2" amount. So I thought player 1 would have to raise "to 4" because it's double the "to 2" amount. What you're saying is that player 1's raise only has to be "to 3"? (The $1 to call and twice the size of the "raise - $1 which would be $2. Add the $2 to the $1 and player one only has to raise to $3, not $4?
WOW, if this is correct, I have been playing Texas Hold'em all this time doubling the "to amount". I always thought you had to double the call and the raise.
So if I get this right, Benyamine bet 18,000
Antonio raised double and some more to 42,000
Then I always thought Benyamine would have to raise to 84,000. But from what I'm getting at, he only has to call the 24,000 raise and double the 24,000? So 24,000 x 3. So Benyamine's minimum raise is "to 72,000, not "to 84,000"
Please help me clarify this, I am completely confused[/b]

No. The minraise is equal to the amount previously raised. So the raise from 18 -> 42 is 24, so the next raise can make it 66 total.

[Phil Gordon AA]

Oh ok so after the 1st raise where you can just double it, the minimum raise is double the previous raise + the original bet amount.
So in this case it was the amount of the raise (42-18) = 24 x 2 which is 48 + the call of the 18,000.

I can't belive I didn't know this earlier. I feel like such a noob. Okay, so I'll give an example and you can say if this is right.
Blinds 100/200
I raise preflop to 800. Another player, "Bob" calls.
On the flop I bet 2000. Bob min raises to 4000.
Then I can raise to 6000. (raise amount was 2000, x 2 = 4000 + 2000 = 6000). Bob then can raise to 8000, then to 10,000, 12,000, and so on?
If this is right, how come you NEVER see those types of raises in tournaments on TV. Is it because players like to raise more to protect their hands?

[Jernej Zorec]

true u rarely see min raises on tv, but on internet u have a lot of silly people who keep min-reraising like its FL

its easy to get confused when u look at raises in total about
but like its been said u have to look at it this way

u first call then 200 bb then u raise 600 to make it 800 total

[supafrey]

Your scenario is correct for the most part - except that most casinos/tournaments limit that number of raises per street to either 4 or 5 if it's multiway. If it's headsup, most structures/tournaments/sites allow unlimited min-raises.

The reason you never see them 3 or 4 times in a row is because there's usually a better play at that point than another minraise.